8087/21018
Back on stage after a couple of months away. I hid it pretty well, but I was really worried that I wouldn't be able to remember enough of the show. But I have spent the best part of the week relistening to the thing and once we'd set up everything tonight I did attempt a run through at pace on stage.
I still had to consult my copious notes a couple of times in the actual show and Right Bollock (who refuses to rehearse) went in some unexpected directions, but otherwise it was a solid performance and I felt ridiculously happy to be back on stage. I don't know how I've managed to flip things so that I feel comfortable and in charge on stage, but anxious and useless off it. But I am an otter slipping into water every time I step out of the wings. And an otter shot into orbit without a space suit every time I step back into them.
On stage is the only place that I am actually me. Or maybe the only place I escape from being me. Either way, I love it. Doesn't matter if it's 3 or 3000 people in the audience (though I'd prefer the latter). I was pleasantly surprised to find out that 150+ Bishops Storfordians were in tonight and they were an appreciative and fun crowd.
I wasn't sure if I'd played here before - I would have said not if I'd had to guess. Weirdly the parking out the back of the theatre was very familiar to me, but absolutely nothing else.
Turns out I was here as recently as 2018. I didn't have a tour manager tonight, as Bollings is working on Stewart Lee's show (the traitor - how dare he, just cos Stew pays more and booked him first?) and coincidentally my tour manager couldn't make it in 2018 either. So the theatre at BS (as I call it) must think that I am a very unsuccessful act, sadly trudging up and down the country alone. Also they can just look at my ticket sales to get the same conclusion. Or just look at me, arriving messy and crumpled, like a week old toasted sandwich.
Talking of which, aside from a puri when we went for breakfast at Dishoom I didn't eat any bread in January. Weight loss has been slow and stalled a bit after the first week, but I am feeling healthy and surely the weight will drop off from tomorrow when I no longer consume those 98 calories of Solero.
Sponsor me here https://www.justgiving.com/page/nolero
Luckily the crew at the theatre were super helpful and friendly. I even wondered if I needed a tour manager at all. But of course I absolutely do. Even the 45 minute drive home felt like a lot.
